Boot attachment for fracture table



y 22, 1958 L. R. SWANM 2,844,143

, BOOT ATTACHMENT FOR FRACTURE TABLE Filed Dec. 6, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jilly 22, 1958 sw Nso 2,844,143

BOOT ATTACHMENT FOR FRACTURE TABLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1954 INVENTOR. Ann 4:41;: 6 Jam/Jam United States PatentO I BOOT ATTACHlVIENT FOR FRACTURE TABLE Lawrence R. Swanson, Camarillo, Calif.

Application December 6, 1954, Serial No. 473,257

4 Claims. (Cl. 128- 84) My invention relates generally to orthopedic .devices and more particularly to new and improved means for securing the foot of a patient to the traction means of a fracture table during the process of reducing a fracture.

In the treatment and reduction of fractures of the lower limbs, a patient is placed on a fracture table and his foot is secured to an upright foot plate, which is secured to a traction bar. The traction bar may be moved in any direction, up or down, or to either side and may be pulled rearwardly in traction and clamped in position so that the fractured ends of the bones are properly aligned.

It is one of the general objects of my invention to provide a device, or boot, to receive the patients foot for securing his foot to the upright foot plate of a traction device which prevents any relative movement between the foot and the foot plate during manipulation of the foot plate to thereby properly align the fractured bone and to securely hold the alignment.

As heretofore practiced, the patients foot has been bound to the foot plate by means of standard bandage material. Such process requires considerable time, cuts ofi circulation in the patients foot and the bandage tends to come loose thus permitting the foot to slip.

When the heretofore practiced bandaging method is used, the bandage must be removed after 30 or 40 minutes to restore circulation. Such operations frequently take from 3 to 4 hours so that considerable time is lost in removing and replacing such bandages.

It is one of the specific objects of my invention to provide means for securing a patients foot to a foot plate which requires only a fraction of the time to apply as the heretofore used bandage wrapping method.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a boot for securing a foot to the foot plate that does not impair the circulation in the patients foot, thereby avoiding the necessity of frequent interruptions to loosen the bandage and restore circulation, thus saving substantial time during an operation yet securely holding the foot in place.

It is also important during such operation to be able to detect any impairment in circulation which may arise from some cause not connected with the foot binding device.

, Another specific object of my invention'is to provide a device for holding the foot to a foot plate of a fracture table which leaves the toes of the patient exposed to thereby permit early detection of any impairment of circulain wide limits to thereby be substanially universal over a wide range of foot sizes. Such boots may be made universal or in pairs of right and left hand.

These and other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from the drawings and specifications in which I illustrate and describe one of the preferred embodiments. It will quickly be recognized by those skilled inthe art to which this invention pertains that many modifications can be made, all of which will embody the principles of my invention. The drawings and specifications should be consideredas illustrative of one form rather than a limitation upon the broader scope of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of boot embodying the principles of my invention and showing its application in connection with portions of a fracture table.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the boot shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the boot shown in Figure 1.

' Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Figure 2.

In the drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention which consists of a device for securing a foot to the traction portion of a fracture table and which evenly distributes pressure over the surface of the foot to avoid stopping circulation.

As illustrated in Figure 1 the invention includes generally a sole portion designated by the numeral 6; an upper designated by the numeral 7 defining a housing for receiving a foot and holding it with respect to said sole; and securing means for securing the sole 6 to a traction means designated 8. The sole 6 is secured to the traction means in the manner described in greater detail with reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5.

As seen best in Figure 4 the sole portion 6 comprises a mid-sole 10 and an outsole 11 spaced therefrom and secured thereto by means of longitudinally extending spacer elements 12 and 13.

The spacers 12 and 13 are spaced apart to thereby define in cooperation with the midsole 10 and outsole 11, a channel 14 through which a foot plate 15 (see Figure 1) may be disposed with a relatively snug fit to secure the boot to said foot plate. The insole and outsole and the spacers are securely fastened together by any suitable means such as sewing.

A foot-covering upper 20 is secured to the top of the midsole 10 and an insole 21 is disposed inside the upper I 20. The upper 20 conforms to the'shape of an average foot and is formed with adjacent forward edges 23 and 24 defining an open space extending up the center line of the foot.

A plurality of eyelets 25 or hooks 26 are disposed adjacent each edge 23 and 24 and a lacing 27 is laced through the eyelets 25 and around the hooks 26 whereby the spacing between the edges may be changed and the boot made to fit snugly on substantially any foot. A tongue28 is sewed to the upper 20 adjacent one edge and underlies the. gap between the edges 23 and 24 and the lacings 27. j

The upper 20 is formed with a slot 29 on each side extending from theankle portion of the upper 20 downwardly toward the heel and is provided with a plurality of eyelets 31 spaced along the edges of the slot 29. A lacing 32.is laced through the eyelets'31 whereby the width of the slot 29 may be changed to thereby quickly change the ankle portion of the boot to the desired snug fit. A flap or tongue 34 is disposed inside the ankle portion of the boot in position to underlie the slot 29 to protect the foot against the eyelets 31 and lacing 3 32. It will beunderstoodthat in the embodiment as i1- lustrated an adjustable .slot, .such as 29, is disposed .on each side of the boot so that an even adjustment can be made.

It will .be readily apparent that thefb'oot can 'be quickly and easily appliedvand-adjuste d for a snug-even fit tofsubstantially any foot. T Since the uniformity :of fit distributes the pressure evenlyover the-foot, little danger of impairment of blood circulation results, and any. force applied to the foot plate ofthe fracture table:is quickly and securely transmitted to the foot.

It should be noted that the bootzis. formed to cover the foot from below the instep to above the ankle with an open end at the toe so that the toes protrude therethrough into the open and areat all times GXPOSEdztO view. The operating physician can therefore quickly'detect any impairment of blood circulation.

In order to protect a patient who is under an anaesthetic against possiblelung explosions Iprefer to form the boot herein illustrative of my invention with somemeans for grounding the patient to the fracture table. I have accomplished this objective by providing a liner .35 which may be formed of some conductive substance, such as a conductive rubber.

The liner 35 extends outwardly through the opentoe portion and is formed with a flap portion 36 which extends rearwardly toward the heel portion through the channel 14. A further conductive liner 37 is disposed around the inner surface of the channel 14 and underlies the 'flap'36 so that regardless of which direction forceis applied by the foot plate against the inner surface of the channel 14, a complete conductive circuit exists between the patients foot and the foot plate of the fracture table which normally is securely or permanently grounded at the time of installation.

In orderto more clearlyillustrate my invention I have shown it in combination with a portion of a fracture-table. The bootis placed on the foot 40 of a patient; laced to a snug fit; .and secured 'to the fracture table by disposing the foot plate throughthe channel -14. A strap 41 is secured across the instep and tothe foot plate by means of pegs such as 42and is then drawn tight by meansof a buckle 43. The purpose 'of the strap is to absorb most of the force of the fracture reduction process and to protect the stitching of the boot. 7

The advantage of xmyinvention will be more fully appreciated from a further explanation of the function of the fracture table which will make clear the extent of the forces applied in the reduction process.

The foot plate 15 is secured to a traction bar 50 by means of a 360 rotatable coupling such as 51. The traction .bar 50 is formed on its under side with a plurality of teeth 52 to thereby define a rack which passes through a gear housing 53. Agear (not shown) meshes with the rack and may be rotated by means of a crank handle 54.

The housing 53 is supported on a universal lock designated generally 55 which permits upward, downward, inward and outward lateral movement of the housing 53. After .the proper manipulation of the rotatable coupling 51, the universal lock 55 and the traction rack 50, the foot plate is locked in place and the foot will not move during the rest of the operation.

Any slipping ofthe securing means or stoppage of circulation would unduly delay the operation and might seriously endanger the patient. By the proper use of my invention, these dangers have been eliminated.

.I have, for the sake of illustration of the principles of my invention, shown and described one of the more preferred embodiments thereof. It should be clear that many other variations can be made within the scope of my invention as set forth and claimed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A boot for securing a foot to the foot plate of a fracture table comprising: a sole having a channel extending longitudinally therethrough, said channel being shaped to receive and embrace the foot plate and restrain relative movement between said boot and the foot plate; an upper having edges secured to said sole and defining a housing for the foot adapted to cover the foot from below the instep to above the ankle; means on said upper-extending from the ankle to the toe for adjusting the instep size thereof; and means on said upper extending from the ankle downwardly towards said sole for adjusting said upper to the size of the ankle.

2. A device for securing a foot to the foot plate of a fracture table and securing the foot against movement relative to the foot plate, comprising: a sole formed with channel means shaped to receive and embrace the foot plate to secure said device to the foot plate to thereby restrain relative movement between said sole and the foot plate; an upper having an edge portion secured to said sole and defining a housing for the foot, said upper being formed with means for adjusting the size across the instep and around the ankle and having an openend to permit protrusion of the toes; and conductive means disposed between the foot and said sole and contacting the foot plate to thereby electrically connect the foot to the foot plate.

3. A boot for securing a foot to an elongated rectangular foot plate of afracture table comprising: a mid-sole; an out sole; spacers secured between said mid-sole and said out sole, and spaced apart to define a channel ex.- tending longitudinally of said boot and having a width corresponding to the width of said foot plate for receiving and embracing the foot plate whereby to restrain relative movement between said boot and the foot plate; an upper having edges secured to said mid-sole and defining a housing for the foot adapted to cover the foot from below the instep to above the ankle, said upper being formed with spaced edges extending from the ankle to below the instep along the centerline of the foot and having means for adjusting the size thereof, and having also means extending from the ankle downwardly toward said mid-sole for adjusting said upper to the size ofthe ankle; and conductive means disposed within said boot for engagement by the foot, said conductive means electrically contacting the foot plate.

4. In a fracture table, the combination of: a traction barga foot plate mounted on said traction bar for angular adjustment in a plane substantially normal to said traction bar; a boot adapted to be secured to said foot plate for holding the foot of a patient against movement relative to said foot plate and comprising a sole, means on said sole for securing said sole to said foot plate, an upper having edges secured to said sole and defining a housing for receiving the foot and covering the instep and ankle thereof, and means on said upper for adjusting the size across the instep and around the ankle; and electrically conductive means disposed in said boot in a position to be engaged by the foot, said electrically conductive means including a portion disposed in a position to contact said foot plate when said boot is secured thereto, whereby an electrical connection is established between said foot plate and the patient.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 30,588 Pitts Nov. 6, 1860 495,782 Carnes H Apr. 18, 1893 1,216,434 Geiger Feb. 20, 1917 1,399,606 Ferragamo Dec. 6, 1921 

